


Time Immemorial

by xtremeroswellian



Category: Roswell (TV 1999)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Grief, Mindwarping, Spoilers for all of season two, Time Travel, Totally platonic coed sleepovers, Who the hell is Leanna, Worried Isabel Evans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:41:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 17,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23779315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xtremeroswellian/pseuds/xtremeroswellian
Summary: Unable to bare the guilt she feels, Liz uses the granolith to travel back in time in a desperate attempt to prevent Tess from wreaking havoc on her friends and killing Alex.
Relationships: Liz Parker & Alex Whitman, Liz Parker & Isabel Evans, Liz Parker & Maria DeLuca
Comments: 3
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

Time Immemorial (Part One)

<"I need you to help me fall out of love with you...need you to help me fall out of love with you...out of love with you...with you...with you...with you..."

Rose petals fell down, down, down. A different place.

More sadness, worse than before.

A familiar face, smiling, happy.

The image suddenly shattered, glass and blood everywhere.

A body broken, then gone.

The woods, dark and cold and yet inviting, calling, tempting.

The face again, pleading this time.

More rose petals falling.

Roses red as blood. Dropping, dripping to the earth in the rhythmic pattern of a clock.

A choked whisper on her lips. "Alex!"

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Liz awoke with tears on her face, shuddering. Another dream. She buried her face in her pillow, sobbing uncontrollably. It was the same every night.

She rolled out of bed, glanced at her alarm clock. 3:26 a.m. She padded into her bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. Caught sight of her reflection in the mirror. Pale face, circles under her red-rimmed eyes. A mere ghost of her former self.

She was half-dead.

Alex was dead and part of her had died right along with him.

She couldn't live like this anymore.

Couldn't pretend that she was okay. One of her best friends had been murdered. And if Tess came back, and Liz knew without a doubt that she would, it was only a matter of time before she killed again.

Maria, Isabel, Kyle, Michael. Max.

Adrenaline flooded through her veins. No. They were just sitting ducks. Tess could do anything she wanted just by thinking about it. If and when she came back--there's no telling what she could do. She might not even appear the same way as she had. They wouldn't stand a chance against her.

Liz stared at herself in the mirror.

And she knew what had to be done.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Isabel lay awake, staring at her ceiling, lost in thoughts of Alex, Tess, college and destiny. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her window.

She sat up, alarmed. Then she told herself it was probably just Michael. Or maybe not. She cautiously pulled back the curtains.

To her surprise, Liz Parker was standing outside. A thousand awful thoughts raced through her mind and she quickly raised the glass. "What's wrong?"

"Can I come in?" Liz whispered, her eyes darting nervously around the yard.

Isabel nodded and grabbed her hand, helped her inside. "Should I get Max?"

"No!" Liz shook her head.

She was taken aback by Liz's vehemance. "Liz, what--"

"Isabel, what I'm about to say to you, you cannot repeat to anyone. Ever. Of course, if it works, you won't remember I said it anyway."

Isabel stared at her, confused.

"I need your help. I need you to come with me to the pod chamber, to open the door for me."

"What? Why?"

"There's something you don't know about the granolith, Isabel. Something no one knows except for me and Maria."

Isabel folded her arms across her chest. "Go on."

"It's not just a route to your home planet. It can be used to travel back in time."

If Liz had just announced that the sky was now green and the grass was blue, Isabel wouldn't have been more surprised than she was at that moment. "How do you know that?"

Liz took a deep breath. "A few months ago, I had a visit from Max. Not 17 year old Max. 30 year old Max. He came to tell me that if Max and I were together, it would bring the end of the world. He said that I had to stop it from happening, to alter the future. He said Tess had left because we were together, and that her being gone made the three of you weaker. He didn't know that she was working against him from the beginning. I think she mind-warped him to get him to come here and make me prevent our being together."

Isabel sat down on her bed, stunned. "So you made it look like you had slept with Kyle to get Max closer to Tess."

Liz nodded. "It changed the course of the future. In that life, Max and I got married in Las Vegas. You and Michael and Maria were at the wedding. So was Alex."

Isabel's eyes widened and she stared at her. "Alex?"

Liz's eyes were filled with tears. "I thought I was doing the right thing. So did Future-Max. We had no idea that Tess...that she was evil."

"You said you needed my help."

She nodded. "I want to use the granolith and go back in time."

They stared at each other for a long minute. "We should talk to the others."

"No! Isabel, don't you see? If Max knew what I was planning, he'd never let me go through with it. Neither would Maria. Isabel, please."

"Then I'll go with you."

"No. Our past selves can't see our future selves. If there's two Isabels and two Lizs running around, it'll be too risky. Besides, I need you to stay here and cover for me. If we both disappear at once, everyone's going to panic."

Isabel stared at her. "You're going to travel back into the past and try to stop Tess and you don't think it's going to be risky?"

Liz met her eyes. "I know it's going to be dangerous. But I *have* to do this."

"Well, then I'll go. I'll handle Tess. You stay here."

She shook her head. "I'm the only one who's been disassociated with the group this year. If there are two of me, people are less likely to notice." Liz looked at her. "You know I'm right."

"What if something goes wrong? What happens if your past self sees you? Or if something happens to your past self when you go back? Or if you can't stop Tess? What will happen to you?"

Their eyes met again, and Liz remained silent.

Isabel shook her head. She and Liz weren't best friends or anything, but she didn't want anything to happen to her. "I can't let you do this."

"Isabel, listen to me. Tess will come back. You know she will. It's just a matter of time. Who do you think she'll go after next? Maria? Michael? Max? We don't stand a chance against her."

"You're wrong. We know what she's really like now--"

"And if she comes back different so you don't know it's her? Or brings back a whole bunch of others like her? We can't let that happen. We have a chance to prevent it, Isabel. Please."

Isabel's gaze drifted to the framed photo on her nightstand. The eight of them at prom. Alex. Max, Michael. Her family, her friends. She knew Liz was right. Tess had killed Alex to suit her own purposes. And if she came back, even the three of them together would be unable to stop her if she brought back reinforcements.

But could Liz, knowing the truth, go back and stop Tess? Stop her from killing Alex, from ripping the group apart? It sounded so absurd.

But then again everything that had happened in the past seven or eight months sounded pretty absurd when she thought about it.

She looked at Liz, saw how desperate she was to do this. Then Isabel nodded slowly. "Okay. Let me get dressed. Then I'll go with you."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Isabel stared hesitantly at the granolith and then at Liz. "Are you sure about this?"

The dark-haired girl nodded. "I can do this, Isabel. I have to do this."

"You realize that everything's going to be change? No matter what happens, everything's going to be different. It could be worse."

"It could be better," Liz answered softly.

The girl definitely had guts. Isabel paused for a moment, then hugged her. "Be careful, Liz."

Liz drew away from the hug. "I will." She touched the side of the granolith with her hand, then pulled it away. "Isabel?"

"Yeah?"

"If something goes wrong...if it doesn't work, or..." She took a deep breath. "Take care of them. Make sure they know..." Her voice trailed off and their eyes locked.

Isabel nodded her silent promise, then glanced at the granolith. "What do I have to do?"

"Future Max said something about changing the molecular structure."

She closed her eyes, focused her energy and touched the granolith. A moment later, she opened her eyes again. "How will we know if it worked?"

"I guess we don't."

"Are you scared?"

Liz looked at the ground. "Yeah, a little bit," she admitted.

Isabel reached into her purse and pulled out her cellular phone. She handed it to Liz. "I don't know if it will work--something might happen to it in the granolith. If not, it might come in handy." She paused. "Good luck."

"Thank you. With any luck, neither of us will remember this conversation in awhile." She touched the side of the granolith and a second later was sucked inside of it.

Isabel looked on, a mixture of amazement and horror-filled emotions stirring inside of her.

Then Liz disappeared.


	2. Chapter 2

Alex Whitman strummed his guitar and frowned. It was 4:32 in the morning and he was still awake. It had been a really weird day. Duplicates of the aliens--well, duplicates of Michael, Isabel and Tess, anyway--had shown up at the UFO Center. He didn't fully understand their purpose for coming to Roswell, and to be honest--he wasn't sure he trusted them. They seemed to be hiding something. Not to mention they looked like punk versions of his friends and of Tess.

And to top it off, Liz was keeping secrets from him and Maria again. Well, probably from everyone. It was hard to tell since she rarely had anything to do with the group anymore. Ever since she came back from Florida, she'd sort of faded into the background. He didn't like it. Liz was one of his best friends. He could tell that something was wrong, but she wouldn't let him close enough to find out what it was.

He wished he could help her, but how could he if she didn't tell him what was wrong?

Alex jumped when the phone rang, and then he reached over and grabbed it. If someone was calling him at this time there was something wrong. Probably alien-related.

"Hello?"

"Alex?" a voice said uncertainly.

"Yeah? Who's this?" he asked. The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but he was tired and couldn't place it.

"It's Tess. Thank God you're home. Alex, I need your help."

He frowned. "What's wrong?"

"My car broke down. Max and Isabel and Michael aren't answering the phone and neither is Kyle or Valenti. Liz told me to call someone else for help." There was no mistaking the bitter tone of her voice.

Now he *knew* something was up. Liz and Tess may have their differences, but he'd known Liz long enough to know that she wouldn't leave someone stranded. Even if it was Tess. "Can't you just...you know...fix your car?"

"Alex, I'd have to know something about cars before I could do that. I don't want to blow up the engine."

Warning bells went off in his head. But he couldn't leave her stranded. "Where are you?"

"I'm on Oak Street. By West Roswell High."

His frown deepened and the warning bells got louder. "Okay. I'll be there in a little while."

"Thank you, Alex." The line went dead.

Alex hung up the phone. He had a bad feeling about this. What was she doing out so late alone? And by the school? It didn't make sense.

And where was everyone else? On another road trip? With their group it was not only possible, but likely. Of course, no one had bothered to tell him what was going on. That was nothing new, either.

But something was just not right about this. Tess was lying to him. But for what purpose?

He got dresed, wondering what she was up to.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Liz glanced around the granolith chamber. "I--Isabel?"

No one answered her. The chamber was empty, the granolith deactivated and silent.

She hesitantly moved out of the cave. Then she stared at the night sky above her. Now what? She had no way of knowing what day or even for sure what year it was. She just hoped the granolith had taken her back in time far enough.

Liz made her way off the rocks, stumbling over loose gravel and scraping her palms in an attempt to stop herself from falling. When she was finally on solid ground, she reached into her pocket. She still had Isabel's cell phone. She just hoped it worked. Otherwise it was going to be a very long walk back to Roswell.

With a shaking hand, Liz dialed a number that had been burned in her mind since the fifth grade.

And then she began to pray.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alex was on his way out the door when he heard the telephone ringing again. He hesitated for a moment, then rushed back to grab it. "Hello?"

There was a pause.

"Is anyone there?" he asked.

"Al-Alex?" a familiar voice choked out.

"Liz? Is that you?" He could hear a muffled sound in the background, like she was crying and his heart leapt into his throat. "Liz? Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I think so. I'm...I'm stranded, though. Can you...come and get me?"

"Boy, this is the night for that."

"What?"

"Tess just called and told me her car broke down. Listen, where are you? I'll swing by, get Tess and come and pick you up."

"No!"

The desperation in her voice sent a chill down his spine.

"Alex, please! Please come and get me! I need you. Please!"

"Okay, just calm down," he said soothingly. "I'll come and get you. Where are you?" he asked, his worry increasing tenfold.

"The pod chamber."

"What are you doing there?"

"I'll explain it when you get here. Please, Alex, just hurry. I need your help." The urgent tone of his best friend's voice made him forget all about Tess. Liz was obviously in some kind of danger.

"Just hang on, Liz. I'll be right there, okay?" he promised.

"Thank you, Alex," she whispered.

He hung up the phone and raced out the door. He broke nearly every traffic law there was as he sped toward the desert.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alex saw her at the side of the road, seemingly frozen in place as he climbed out of his car, her eyes wide. "Liz?"

A strangled cry was his response as she sank to her knees in the dirt.

Fear propelled him forward and he was at her side in an instant. She looked awful. Her clothes were tattered and dirty, her eyes sad and frightened and red-rimmed from crying. Her hair was a tangled mess. She looked like she'd been attacked.

The thought sent a surge of adrenaline racing through his veins. He looked around, trying to see if there was anyone else around. There was no one.

A second later, he was nearly knocked over when Liz launched herself into his arms.

"I'm so glad to see you, Alex," she whispered, burying her face in his shoulder. Her arms tightened around him.

Alex was stunned. She was acting like she hadn't seen him in months. In reality, it had only been 8 or 9 hours ago. "I'm glad to see you, too, Parker," he said, confused.

She started to cry. Softly at first, and then harder, never letting go of him.

He stroked her hair gently. "Liz, are you okay? Did something happen? Did someone do something to you?"

She shook her head and relief washed over him.

"Then what's going on?"

Liz pulled away from him, but not completely. She stared into his eyes. "Have you talked to Leanna lately?"

He stared back at her. "Liz, who's Leanna?"

"Thank God," she whispered. Then her eyes rolled back and her body went limp.

Alex cradled her against his chest. "Liz? Liz!" He felt for a pulse. It was strong and steady. But he knew that she hadn't passed out for no reason. He carefully stood up, pulled her up with him, then slid an arm under her legs and carried her to the car.

He laid her down in the back seat gently and climbed into the driver's side. He started the car and headed for the nearest hospital.


	3. Chapter 3

Liz woke up moments later and struggled to sit up in the backseat of Alex's rabbit.

She was in Alex's car. And he was driving. She said a silent prayer of thanks. "Alex?"

He glanced at her in the rearview mirror with concerned eyes. "You should lie back down. I'm taking you to the hospital."

"No, no hospitals. I'm fine, Alex."

"Liz, you passed out. People don't just pass out for no reason."

"I'm just--exhausted. I haven't been sleeping well since--" She cut herself off before she could say, "you died."

The car slowed to a stop and she carefully climbed over the seats and slid down into the passenger seat. "Can we please just go to your house?"

Alex studied her carefully. "You don't want me to take you home?"

She shook her head. She hadn't realized how difficult this was going to be. She couldn't let her younger self see her. Future Max had said that it would kill them both. So she couldn't go home. A dozen thoughts swarmed in her head, but she tried to push them away. She was too tired to think clearly. If she didn't get some sleep, she wouldn't be able to come up with an effective plan to stop Tess from her reign-of-horror.

"Can I just stay at your house tonight?"

"Sure," he agreed, his eyes still full of concern. He started the car again, turned it around and headed back to his house. "Oh, crap. We have to pick up Tess. I told her I'd--"

"No! No, you can't!" She shook her head vehemently.

"But Liz--"

"Alex, please. Please, just trust me on this. Tess will be just fine."

He frowned and glanced at her.

"I know you don't understand, but you have to take my word on this, Alex, please."

Alex nodded slowly. "Okay. All right. We'll just...go to my house."

Liz reached out and touched his hand. "Thank you," she whispered in relief.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alex sat down on the edge of his bed, waiting for Liz to get done in the shower. He had so many questions. What had she been doing at the pod chamber? Why had she been so adamant about not picking up Tess? And why did she keep staring at him like she was waiting for him to disappear at any given second? So many questions and he knew that he probably wouldn't be getting any answers in the near future.

He still felt like he should've taken her to the hospital. He wondered if somehow she'd hit her head. That would explain why she was acting so strangely, asking him questions about people he didn't know. She had sounded so relieved to hear he hadn't talked to someone named Leanna.

And so desperately urgent to persuade him not to pick up Tess. She'd practically begged him to trust her.

He might not understand her reasons or what was going on, but he did trust Liz. He still wanted answers, but he was a patient person. He could wait.

There was a soft knock on his door and he quickly pulled it open. Liz was wearing one of his over-sized t-shirts and a pair of shorts. She looked a bit better, but still seemed pretty tired and about three shades of white paler than he would have liked to see her. He pulled her into his room and shut the door behind him.

Liz looked around and seemed...dazed. Like she had never been in his bedroom before. She stared at his desk, her gaze locked on the book of Robert Frost poems. She walked over and picked it up. He watched as she paused on a page.

Alex walked up behind her, looked over her shoulder. "'Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening.' That's my favorite Frost poem."

She closed the book and set it back down on the desk with a shaking hand. "I know," she whispered.

Something was really not right.

Liz looked as though she was about to start crying again.

"Liz?" he said quietly.

"I'm sorry. I'm just...it's been a really long couple of months and I'm so tired, Alex."

The sadness in her voice tugged at his heart. His best friend was hurting and he wasn't sure he could help her, wasn't sure if she'd let him. So he did the only thing he knew. He moved forward and enfolded her in his arms, resting his chin on top of her head. "It's okay, Liz. We can talk later. Whenever you're ready." He guided her to the bed and pulled back the covers.

Liz crawled into his bed and he covered her up and started to move away. She grabbed his arm and he looked down at her. "Where are you going?"

Alex motioned to the door. "I was going to go sleep on the couch."

Her brown eyes pleaded with him. "Will you stay with me?"

"Uh, yeah. Sure." He moved to the other side of the bed, slid his shoes off and crawled under the blankets beside her.

She turned over on her side to face him. Tears sparkled in her eyes. "Alex?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't think I've ever told you this, but...thank you. Thank you for being my friend, for always being there whenever I needed you," she whispered.

Alex reached out and gently wiped away her tears. "I'll always be here for you. No matter what." He kissed her forehead. "That's what best friends are for."

Liz's eyes drifted shut and in mere minutes she had fallen asleep.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rose petals tumbled down.

Falling, dripping, making a pool of red blood on the ground.

Glass broke, shattered the stillness of the puddle.

The woods, dark and cold, called to her. But this time she felt someone pulling her away, whispering to her. "Not yet. It's not time yet."


	4. Chapter 4

June 2001

Isabel nervously sipped a glass of orange juice at her booth in the Crashdown and glanced at her watch. It was almost noon. Liz had crossed over to the past almost eight hours ago. And so far, nothing seemed to have changed.

What would happen anyway? Would she be aware of the change when it occurred? Or would it just be a sudden memory-erasing? Like none of the past few months had ever happened? It was hard to believe she could ever forget the things that had happened in the recent past.

"Hey, Isabel."

She jumped at the sound of Maria's voice. "God! Don't sneak up on me like that!" she snapped.

"Sorry. I just saw you over here by yourself and you looked kind of lonely."

Isabel instantly felt guilty. She looked up at Maria. The events of the past couple of months were clear on her face, as well. Her eyes were warm, but had lost some of their spark. It hurt to look at her. "I'm sorry. I didn't sleep well."

"It's okay. Have you...seen Liz today? Her mom said she left a note saying she was going out, but she didn't say where."

Isabel swallowed hard. "No, I haven't seen her."

Maria looked worried.

"What is it?"

"It's just that...I don't like not knowing where she is, you know? With everything that's happened...it just...scares me."

Isabel reached out and squeezed her hand. "I'm sure that Liz is just fine." She bit her lip and hoped she was right.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

November 2000

Liz woke up just before noon, her head resting on someone's chest. It all came back to her in a rush. She had used the granolith to travel back in time. In a time that Alex was still alive, before Max and Tess had slept together, before her entire life had completely crashed around her.

She was in Alex's room.

Liz kept still, her attention drawn and focused on the strong, steady beating of Alex's heart, the gentle rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. He was there with her, alive, warm, real.

Last night seeing him had been overwhelming. Then walking into his room, she'd vividly recalled the confrontation that had take place there after his death.

Tess had killed him. At the time, of course, no one had known that. But she'd set it up to look like Alex had committed suicide. She'd even made a feeble attempt to convince them of it that day, here in Alex's own room.

<"It wasn't a suicide and I can prove it. Five minutes ago I found these here, in Alex's room. They are concert tickets to Beth Orton. Alex bought them on the day he died, probably for him and Isabel. The concert is tonight. Don't you get it? You don't buy concert tickets on the day you kill yourself! You don't make plans for the future when you are not planning on having a future!" she had said.

"She's right. There's no way. There's no way," Maria agreed as she rested her head against Michael's shoulder.

"I don't know, you know? A couple of concert tickets? It's pretty slim evidence," Tess said doubtfully.

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about!" Maria snapped.>

Liz blinked rapidly, clearing the memory from her mind. That conversation would never take place. They wouldn't have to argue over whether Alex's death was a murder or a suicide or an accident.

Because Alex wasn't going to die. Not like that. Not at Tess's hands and not for a long, long time.

She didn't care what it took. She wasn't sure how she was going to stop it from happening, but somehow she would.

Nothing else mattered.

Nothing.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Liz studied the calender on Alex's desk. It was November 22, the day before Thanksgiving. Max and Tess would have left for New York that same morning and they wouldn't be back until Saturday afternoon.

Which gave her exactly 3 days to come up with a plan to stop Tess.

But sooner than that, she was going to have to come up with something to tell Alex. She couldn't let him run into her younger self and risk blowing her cover. She'd decided that morning that telling him the truth--that she was from the future--was out of the question. She knew him too well. If he knew the truth about Tess, he would want to help Liz stop her.

And Liz was not willing to let him get involved in any way. There were too many things that could go wrong, too many variables. No, it was best he stay away from Tess all together.

She wasn't going to take any chances.

She couldn't tell him the whole truth, but she could tell him part of it. Enough to keep him from being suspicious, anyway.

At that moment, Alex stepped back into the room, his hair still wet from the shower. "Hey, uh--you want to get some breakfast? We've got Frosted Flakes or I could make some eggs," he offered.

Liz stared at him for a moment. He was such a great guy. So sweet, considerate. How could anyone hurt him?

"Liz?"

She managed a smile. "Eggs would be great."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alex watched her carefully during breakfast. She wasn't quite as pale as she'd been early that morning, but she still seemed tired. And her eyes.

Her eyes were haunted by a sadness that ran very deep, a sadness he was unaccustomed to seeing in anyone, let alone his usually-optomistic best friend.

Plus he'd woken up around 9 to hear her whimpering. When he'd looked over at her, she'd had tears running down her cheeks. And she had still been asleep.

"So...are you gonna tell me what happened?" he asked gently, not wanting to push her too much.

Liz looked up and sighed. "Yeah. Do you remember the night we went to see that psychic?"

He nodded.

"Something happened later that night, Alex."

He leaned forward and waited.

"Max came to see me. He was out on my roof. But it wasn't the Max that you know."

Several thoughts ran through his mind, none of them good, most involving evil shape-shifting aliens or punk duplicates. Alex lost his appetite.

"It was Max 14 years in the future."

He stared at her. Okay, that hadn't been one of the thoughts that had crossed his mind.

"The granolith has an immense amount of power. Max was able to alter its molecular structure somehow in order to travel back in time. He told me we had to change things in the present in order to...alter the future." Liz stared down at her plate.

"Alter the future? Why?"

"Because 14 years from now, they were overtaken by their enemies. You see, Tess wound up leaving because Max and I were together. They weren't as strong without her. So Max came to me so I could stop us from ever getting back together.

"He wanted me to make Max--present Max--fall out of love with me. So I arranged it so that Max would see me in bed with Kyle." She looked at him. "We didn't actually sleep together."

Alex nodded. "But from Max's perspective..." he said, catching on.

"Yeah."

He hesitated. "So...what would the future have been? I mean, other than their enemies?"

Liz looked away. "Max and I would have eloped at the Elvis Chapel in Las Vegas when we turned 19. You and Maria and Isabel and Michael would've been there. And 12 years later, Isabel and Michael would have been killed by their enemies."

He stared at her. No wonder she looked like she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. She really was. "Oh, Liz." Alex stood up and moved around the table and put his arms around her. "I'm so sorry."

Liz leaned into his embrace, resting her head against his shoulder. "It's okay. I'm dealing. I know there are worse things in life. Much worse," she said, her voice dropping to a whisper.

Alex tightened his arms around her slightly. "Is there anything I can do?"

She pulled away from him. "Actually, there is."

"Name it."

"I sort of...got into a fight with my parents last night. Do you think your parents would mind if I stayed here for a few days? I mean, I know tomorrow's Thanksgiving and everything and I don't want to ruin anyone's holiday or--"

"Liz, Liz. Of course you can stay here. You're always welcome here. My parents adore you. And...I do, too. I don't make eggs for just anyone, you know?" he joked.

Liz laughed, but then her expression grew serious again. "There's something else. I need you to promise me you're going to stay away from Tess, Alex."

He frowned in confusion. "Well, it's not like I make an effort to try and be around her in the first place, but why?"

"Just promise me. Don't go anywhere near her. She may be Max's destined, but I don't trust her. Please."

Alex had a feeling there was something else she wasn't telling him, but he nodded. "I promise. I'll avoid her like a plague...hey, that was an ironic choice of words."

Liz smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "You have no idea," she murmured. She hugged him again. "I love you, Alex," she whispered.

"I love you, too," he answered. "We're going to get through this, Liz."

She nodded and when she pulled away this time, he recognized the spark of determination on her face. "Yes, we are."

Maybe he was wrong, but her words sounded more like a vow than an agreement.


	5. Chapter 5

June 2001

Isabel sat tensely at the Crashdown as she waited for the others to show up. Max was pacing the floor nervously and Maria sat next to Isabel, biting her nails.

Kyle and Valenti showed up next. Kyle dropped into the seat across from her. It was the first time she'd seed him since the day Tess left. His eyes were bloodshot and his mouth was twisted into a permanent grimace.

Valenti didn't look much better. He hadn't shaved in days and he seemed to have aged about ten years overnight.

The second that Michael walked in, Max started talking. "Liz is missing. She's been gone for two days. She left her mom a note but it didn't say where she went or when she'd be back."

"Maybe she needed some time away," Isabel said, hoping to avert panic.

"She would have told someone," Maria disagreed, shaking her head.

"Are you sure? She hasn't even had time to grieve for Alex." Nearly everyone flinched at the sound of his name. "She was too consumed with finding out the truth. Now that she knows what happened, maybe she needed some alone time."

"Maria's right. She would have told one of us," Max said.

"No offense to anyone here, but after the shit Tess put us through, I don't blame Liz a bit for wanting to get away from all this alien crap," Kyle said, leaning back against the booth. "I wouldn't have said anything, either. And I sure as hell wouldn't have told any of you where I was going. Least of all King Max."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Max demanded.

Kyle rolled his eyes. "Gee, Max. If Liz wanted time to herself, do you really think she'd have told you where she was going so you could track her down and try to get her to take your sorry ass back?"

"Kyle, that's enough," Valenti said quietly.

"He has a point," Isabel said, glancing at Max.

"She might not have told Max she was leaving, but she would have told me," Maria said quietly. "Liz tells me everything."

"Isabel," Michael said quietly. He stood leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest. "You could try dreamwalking her."

Five pairs of eyes focused on her.

Isabel shifted uncomfortably. "I could try."

Max nodded, looking slightly relieved.

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Isabel looked from Max to Maria to Michael as she laid down on her bed. "I can't concentrate with all of you standing there staring at me."

"Sorry," Maria mumbled. She grabbed Michael's hand and dragged him out of the room.

"Go, Max. If I find out anything, I'll tell you."

Max hesitated, then folowed Maria and Michael out the door.

She relaxed a bit. It wasn't such a bad idea to try and dreamwalk Liz. Maybe she could find out what was going on. Of course, there was no real way of knowing for sure which Liz she was about to dreamwalk. Or if it would even work given the circumstances.

Isabel touched the picture of Liz that Max had given her. Then she closed her eyes.

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Everything was dark.

No, not just dark. Pitch black.

A huge, endless void.

"Liz?" Isabel called tentatively.

There was no answer.

She could hear a clock ticking somewhere nearby. It was the only sound there was.

"Liz!" she shouted again.

Suddenly the ground beneath her feet ripped open and she began to fall. Isabel screamed.

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Isabel sat up in bed, gasping for breath. She took a minute to calm herself, glad that she'd made the others leave the room. She rubbed her temples gently. Had that been Liz's dream? She hadn't even been able to find Liz. What did that mean?

She swallowed hard and swung her legs over the side of the bed, preparing herself for her biggest acting performance of all time: fooling her brother and Michael.

Isabel walked across the hall to Max's room where they were all waiting. "Liz is fine."

Max spun to face her. "Did you talk to her? Where is she?"

"Yes, I talked to her. But she wouldn't tell me where she was. Just that she needed some time away to think."

"She's okay?" Maria asked.

Isabel met her eyes and nodded. "She said she's sorry she didn't tell you she was leaving but that she would call you the second she got back."

Maria sighed with relief. "Thank God," she whispered as she put her arms around Michael, who looked relieved as well.

Isabel relaxed. They seemed to have bought it. "Well, I'm going to bed. See you later." She turned and walked back to her room and shut the door behind her.

Then she stared at the prom photo on her bedside stand. "What's going on, Liz? Where are you?" she whispered.


	6. Chapter 6

November 2000

Liz sat on Alex's bed, flipping through a photo album. Most of the pictures were of Alex, Maria and her. Then towards the end, there were a few of Max, Michael and Isabel in various combinations, and even one of Kyle, Tess and Valenti. She fought the urge to rip Tess's picture in half.

She turned to the beginning of the book again and smiled as she found a picture that Maria had taken of her and Alex at the Crashdown their freshman year. Liz had broken her ankle in gym and was modeling a lovely white cast. Alex had been doodling and writing on it when Maria whipped out her camera. Alex had a wide grin on his face and Liz had a half-smile on hers.

"Not exactly one of my finest moments," she commented.

Alex stopped strumming his guitar and glanced over. "That was a bad year for us health-wise."

Liz nodded in agreement. On the next page there were several photos of Alex in a hospital bed after his appendix was removed. Maria was sitting on one side of him and Liz on the other. Amy DeLuca had taken those particular shots.

There were a couple of pictures of the freshman homecoming float that they had all been forced to work on. Then one of she and Alex at homecoming, one of Maria and Alex at homecoming, one of Maria and her, and one of the three of them together, Alex in the middle, arms around them both.

"I was the luckiest guy at the dance. Most guys only had one date. I had two," he said with a grin.

Liz laughed, staring at the photo. It brought back so many memories of all the times that the three of them had spent together. For such a long time it had been mainly the three of them, though their lives had been woven together with the aliens' long before Max healed her.

"It's so strange," she murmured.

"What is?"

"How we were all connected before we ever found out the truth about who they were. I never really thought about it before."

Alex tilted his head to the side and looked thoughtful. "Remember how Maria and Michael had to work together on that float for homecoming? I thought they were going to kill each other."

"Me too. Oh, and when Maria and Isabel were in the same cooking group in home-ec and they caught the place on fire?"

Alex started laughing. "I remember all three of them showed up to the 16th birthday party Maria and I threw for you."

"It goes back farther than that, even. Way back to Mr. Raddish's class in the fifth grade. That's where it all started." She felt a sudden wave of sadness threaten to overwhelm her. Things had been so much easier back then. Now everything revolved around heartbreak, betrayals, conspiracies and death.

"I hate to interrupt this little trip down memory lane, but The Whits are supposed to start practicing in about a half-hour so I should probably get the garage set up." Alex stood up. "Feel free to come watch us."

Liz stood up, too. "Actually, I need to talk to Maria, but I'll come back when I'm done if that's okay."

"Fine by me. You know," he said, glancing at her. "It had been a long time since we'd really hung out and talked. You've been kind of...distant since you came back from Florida. It's good to have you back, Parker."

She smiled at him. "Thanks for not giving up on me."

Alex nodded. "Catch ya, later." He walked out the door.

Liz sat back down on the bed, covering her face with her hands. Had Alex died thinking she didn't care about him?

Stop it, she commanded herself. Alex isn't dead. But he will be if you don't get it together.

She stood up abruptly, her eyes fixed on the calender. She had 24 hours left. Max and Tess would be returning from New York the next afternoon. And she couldn't do this alone.

Liz took a deep breath and left Alex's house. Then she headed for the Crashdown.

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Liz waited for Michael and Isabel to leave before she walked around to the back of the Cafe and waited for Maria's shift to end. She checked her watch impatiently. Any minute now...

Seconds later, the door opened and Maria stormed out angrily.

"Maria!" she said in a hushed voice.

Her other best friend spun around to face her, her eyes wide, anger momentarily forgotten. "How did you change so fast?"

Liz shook her head. "We don't have much time. I have to talk to you."

Maria's eyes narrowed. "Well, to be honest with you, Liz, I'm really not in the mood to talk to you right now." She turned to go.

Liz grabbed her arm. "You have to listen to me. Our lives depend on it."

"Okay, Liz, you're really starting to freak me out now. I don't know what's going on with you anymore! First you sleep with Kyle of all people, and don't even tell me about it and now you--"

"Forget Kyle! I'm not who you think I am."

"Obviously," Maria retorted.

"I'm not the same person you fought with ten minutes ago. I mean I am, but I'm not."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

At that moment, the door swung open. Liz covered Maria's mouth and pulled her behind the garbage bin. She watched her younger self leave, walk down the alley and disappear around the corner.

Maria yanked free of Liz's grip and stared at her fearfully. "What are you? A shapeshifter? A skin? What do you want with me?"

"I'm Liz. I used the granolith to travel back in time. I'm her eight months ago," Liz said quickly.

Her best friend began to back away slowly. "That's great. I'll just be going now."

"Your first kiss was with Michael in Mr. Raddish's fifth grade class. You got dared to kiss him. My dad used to call you Hurricane DeLuca when we were younger."

"Anyone could have found those things out," Maria said, her voice shaky. But she had stopped backing away.

"We went to visit Alex in Memphis when his parents dragged him there over the summer a couple years ago. You were terrified to get on the plane. You wanted me to tell him hi for you so that you didn't have to fly. But once we were on the plane, you were fine. I was the one who got sick. We had a water fight with his cousins and I sprayed Alex with the water hose until he shoved you in front of him as a shield. We had bought him a new guitar and a case with his name on it. When Max healed me and I finally told you the truth about it, you thought that Alex was hiding in the closet or under the bed, that we were playing a trick on you."

Maria stared at her and stood completely still.

"Your cousin Sean has a parole hearing in about a month from now. When he gets released, he's going to live with you and your mom."

Confusion flickered over her friend's face.

Liz searched her memory, desperately trying to think of something else to prove herself to Maria. "Brody! Brody has a five year old daughter named Sydney. She has bone-marrow cancer."

Maria stared at her. "Let's for just one minute say that I believe you. What do you want? What are you doing here?"

"Maria, just verify what I've told you. Check it out for yourself. Please," she urged.

"I don't understand--"

"I know you don't. Look, the other me is going to call you at three in the morning and ask you to meet her. She's going to explain the whole Kyle thing to you. When she leaves to come back home, I'll be there at the meeting place if you're willing to listen." Liz turned to go. "Maria, I've always been able to count on you before. I'm counting on you now. Please don't mention to anyone that you saw me. It's a matter of life and death."

Liz walked away, leaving a dumbfounded Maria to stare after her.


	7. Chapter 7

"Are you still there, Ma'am?"

"I'm here."

"Sean DeLuca's next parole hearing is set for January third. It was just set an hour ago."

"Thank you." Maria hung up the phone, not terribly surprised by the answer, but feeling dazed none the less. After all, the Liz that had claimed to be from the future had known things that had happened--like how she'd thought Alex and Liz were playing a trick on her when Liz first told her the truth about Max--that no one else knew.

How else could she possibly know those things unless she was telling the truth?

And what had she meant by "it's a matter of life or death?"

She shook her head. Just when she thought her life couldn't possibly get any weirder or more comoplicated, something inevitably happened to prove her wrong.

Maria stood up and went to her room. She sorted through the various bottles of aromatherapy that were on her dresser.

Ah, there it is, she thought as she snatched up the bottle of cedar oil, unscrewed the lid and inhaled the scent deeply.

Her gaze traveled to her alarm clock. It was 6:30 in the evening. Which meant she had over eight hours until Liz was going to call her.

Maria laid down on her bed and stared up at the ceiling.

There was nothing she could do now but wait.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Liz stayed out of sight as her younger self hugged Maria, then headed home. She paused for a moment, trying to gauge her friend's emotional state.

Maria remained seated on the edge of the water fountain though she was looking around a bit nervously.

She took a deep breath and stepped out from behind the tree she'd been hiding behind. Maria spotted her almost instantly and rose to her feet.

Liz walked over to her slowly. "Thanks for waiting," she said, tucking a strand of hiar behind her ear.

Maria nodded, staring at her. "You look different. Not a lot but...your hair's longer and..." her voice trailed off.

"I know how strange all of this must seem to you," Liz began.

Maria shook her head. "I'm dating--well, I *was* dating an alien, remember?"

A smile tugged at her lips. "Yeah."

There was a moment of silence.

"So...when Future Max came to see you it was because he needed you to change the present so that the world didn't end. I'm assuming you need my help to change something for similar reasons?" Maria questioned.

Liz nodded slightly. "See, in that future, Tess had left because Max and I were together. What Future Max didn't know was that Tess had been working against him--against all of us from the beginning."

"What?"

"Forty years ago, Nasedo made a deal with Kivar. Tess was to get pregnant with Max's son and use the granolith to return all of them home to their planet. She was to turn Max, Michael and Isabel over to Kivar for execution."

Maria's mouth dropped open. "Oh, my God! She turned them over to...that's why you're here! That evil, manipulative bit--"

"No. At the last minute she used the granolith to go home, but the others didn't go with her."

"Now you've lost me. So Tess is gone and they're not. I'm not seeing a problem here."

"Tess was pregnant."

Maria stared at her. "You mean she and Max--? Oh, Liz. I'm so sorry."

Liz sucked in a deep breath, preparing herself for the rest. "As bad as that is, Tess did other things before she left. Worse things."

"Like what?"

"Let's sit down."

Maria frowned, but did as suggested and waited for Liz to continue.

Liz stared at the water, at the pennies people had tossed into the fountain while making wishes. "Alex left suddenly and went to Sweden on a supposed foreign-exchange program through the school. When he came back...he was different. We didn't realize it until after..." She took another deep breath, trying to calm the emotions stirring up inside of her. "The thing is, Alex never really went to Sweden."

"What do you mean?"

"Tess mindwarped him into going to the University of Las Cruces to decode that book that was written in their language. The book contained the information on the granolith, how to use it to return home."

"Tess *mindwarped* Alex?" Maria repeated, her eyes widening.

Liz closed her eyes, knowing she had to tell Maria the rest, but not wanting to. "Somehow Alex managed to break free from Tess's mind control. He confronted her about it one night. Maria, she killed him. And then she set it up to make it look like he'd committed suicide."

"What?" her friend whispered, horrified. "Oh, my God, Liz." She buried her face in her hands.

Liz touched her arm. "That's why I'm here. To stop her. And I need your help."

Maria wiped the tears from her eyes and looked at her. "Just tell me what to do."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

June 23, 2001

Isabel knocked on the Valenti's door loudly, praying they were home. A moment later, Kyle opened the door. "What are you doing here?"

"Is your dad home? I need to talk to him," she said urgently.

Kyle hesitated for a moment, then stepped inside and let her in.

Isabel glanced around the living room anxiously.

"He's in his office."

She hurried down the hallway and hovered in the doorframe. Valenti was at his desk, staring down at the wood surface, lost in thought. After a moment he realized she was standing there and he looked up in surprise. "Isabel, is everything all right?"

"I need to talk to you."

"Come in. Have a seat."

Isabel sat down across from him. "It's about Liz. She didn't go on vacation somewhere. I lied."

"Where is she?" he asked in confusion.

She took a deep breath and told him the entire story. "She left early Wednesday morning. I'm worried. I'm afraid that something's happened to her."

Valenti leaned forward. "You haven't told this to Max and Michael?"

"No," she whispered, feeling dangerously close to crying. "If anything happens to her...it will be my fault. I never should have let her go."

Valenti exhaled loudly and rubbed his temples. "What can I do?"

Isabel tried to push away her churning emotions. "I'm giving her until 6 tonight. Then I'm going to use the granolith and try to find her. I just wanted to tell someone in case something happened."

"I don't think this is a good idea," he said, shaking his head.

"I know it's not. But this is my responsibility. I have to take care of it," she said, feeling a sudden spark of determination. She looked at her watch.

There were only three hours until 6 p.m.


	8. Chapter 8

November 25, 2000--4:00 P.M.

Maria glanced over her shoulder at Liz, who was feigning interest in the "Theories of 1947" display. She took a deep breath and knocked on the office door.

It opened a moment later, revealing an agitated Brody. He looked surprised when he saw her. "Maria. What are you doing here?"

"Well, it had been a few days since I saw you. I was worried," she told him. "Are you okay?"

Brody sighed. "They took me again," he told her quietly.

Maria felt a wave of sympathy wash over her. Whether or not the particular alien that, according to Liz took possession of Brody's body from time to time to communicate with the aliens on Earth, was good or not, it wasn't fair. Brody seemed like a really great guy and she truly cared for him. Not the same way she cared for Michael, but she liked Brody as a friend.

She touched his arm gently. "Why don't you have an early dinner with me and you can tell me everything, okay?"

Her offer got her a small smile from him. "That'd be great, Maria. Thanks."

Maria linked her arm with his and lead him out of his office. She threw a final glance at Liz as they headed out of the UFO Center.

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Liz looked around the empty UFO Center and then slipped into Brody's office, closing the door quietly behind her. She scanned the shelves of abduction books and then the desktop.

When she didn't see what she was looking for, she began opening drawers and sifting through files. She glanced at her watch awhile later. She'd been looking for a half-hour. She had to hurry. There was no way of knowing how long Maria could keep Brody busy. A sheen mist of sweat broke out on her forehead and she rocked back on her heels. It had to be in the locked file cabinet. There was no where else to look.

She seriously wished she had the ability to unlock locks just by waving her hand over them like she'd seen Isabel do in the past. But she didn't. So she'd have to break-and-enter the old fashioned way. She fumbled around in a desk drawer until she found a paperclip. She unwound it and inserted it into the keyhole and jiggled it around a bit. She heard a clicking sound as the lock turned.

Liz let out a sigh of relief. She pulled open the drawer and pushed back a the row of hanging files. There it was, at the bottom of the drawer. Pentagonal in shape and currently not activated. She carefully picked it up and slid it into her jeans pocket. She started to close the drawer again when she caught sight of something else a little further back.

For a long moment, Liz just stared at it. Then with a shaking hand, she retrieved the small handgun from its resting place and slid it into her purse.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Are you sure Maria's coming to practice tonight?" Rodney asked doubtfully.

Alex sighed. "She'll be here. She's just running late."

"What's new?" Jake retorted.

He gave him a warning look. Honestly, he didn't know where Maria was. Just that she was out with Liz somewhere. "Let's just practice without her until she gets here, all right?"

"Whatever." Rodney counted to three.

Alex started playing the first few notes of "In the Air Tonight" when he thought he heard a distant ringing. He stilled his hands on the guitar.

"Now what?" Jake demanded, exasperated.

"The phone's ringing." Alex set his guitar down and hurried into the house. The answering machine had already picked up, but he grabbed the receiver anyway. "Hello?"

"Alex, it's me, Isabel."

"Uh, Isabel, hi. What's up?" he asked, trying to sound casual. In reality, his heart was pounding like Rodney's drums.

"I need to see you. Can you meet me at the pod chamber?"

"Now?"

"It's important, Alex."

"Sure. Yeah, no problem. I'll be there soon."

"Great." The line went dead.

Puzzled, Alex hung the phone back up and headed back out to the garage. "Guys, I gotta go. Something came up. Feel free to stay here and practice. There's soda in the fridge."

"Whitman, we have a gig next weekend," Mark protested.

"I'm sorry. It can't be helped. I'll be back as soon as I can." Alex walked towards his VW Rabbit. "And if Maria tells me any of you harrassed her about being late, I'm going to be seriously ticked off!" he warned as he climbed into the driver's seat.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Thanks for the ride back," Liz told Maria as they drove towards Alex's house.

"No problem. I'm supposed to practice with the band tonight, anyway." Maria glanced at her sideways. "So did you find what you were looking for?"

Liz stared out the window, not wanting to think about what she was going to have to do. "Yeah," she answered quietly.

"So now what?" Maria asked after a moment of silence.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what do we do next?"

"*We* don't do anything. You did your part."

Maria snorted. "If you think I'm just going to sit back and pretend--"

Liz cut her off. "Maria, I don't want you involved in this anymore. It's not safe. Tess is extremely dangerous."

"Yeah, I know. But you can't do this alone. Besides...we're Thelma and Louise, babe."

She smiled despite the growing ball of anxiety burning in her stomach. "Yeah, and if you remember correctly, they drove off a cliff and died."

After another brief pause, Maria glanced at her again. "So how exactly do you plan on stopping her?"

"Any way I have to."

"I don't like the sound of that," Maria said nervously. "Liz, I've got a really bad feeling about this. Please, let's just talk to Michael and Isabel and Max and tell them what's going on."

"Maria, I can't put anyone else at risk. I'm here to change the past to save Alex. That doesn't mean that one of you couldn't get hurt in the process. I'm not willing to take that chance."

Maria parked the Jetta in front of Alex's house. "What if she does something to you? What will happen? Will it affect the other Liz, your past self?"

She paused at the question. "I'm not sure," she answered honestly. "But Tess won't be able to use her powers against me."

"God, I just...I have a terrible feeling, Liz. Like something really awful is about to happen."

Liz shivered as goosebumps crept up her arms. She ignored the bad feeling she was getting herself. "We should go in. You're supposed to practice, remember?"

Maria took a deep breath. "You're right."

They both climbed out of the car and headed to the garage where The Whits were already practicing.

"Sorry I'm late," Maria said. She looked around. "Where's Alex?"

Rodney shrugged. "He left."

"What do you mean he left?" Liz asked sharply.

"He got a phone call, said something came up and he left."

Liz and Maria exchanged a look. "Excuse us, boys," Maria said as she followed Liz into the house and closed the door behind them.

She looked at the clock on the wall. It was 5:23 p.m. "Okay, where would he have gone?" she asked, trying to remain calm.

Maria began to pace the kitchen floor. "I don't know. Isabel's? Maybe your other self called him and needed to talk to him?"

"We should call Isabel first," Liz said, reaching for the phone. The red flashing light on the answering machine caught her attention. Without thinking about it, she pressed play.

"You have 1 message."

"Hello?" she heard Alex say.

"Alex, it's me, Isabel."

Liz's mouth dropped open and she whirled around to face Maria, who turned completely pale. Because the voice on the answering machine was one they recognized, but it was most definitely *not* Isabel Evans.

"Uh, Isabel, hi. What's up?"

"I need to see you. Can you meet me at the pod chamber?"

"Now?"

"It's important, Alex."

"Sure. Yeah, no problem. I'll be there soon."

"Great."

"End of messages."

"Oh, my God, Liz!" Maria whispered in horror.

"Keys!" Liz commanded. Maria promptly handed over her Jetta keys, but followed Liz towards the door. "No, Maria. Stay here and be safe. I can't be worried about both of you." She hugged her friend tightly. "There's a package under Alex's bed. He doesn't know about it. When I'm gone, I want you to get it and show its contents to everyone, okay?"

"Please be careful," Maria urged. "I love you!"

"I love you, too, Maria," she whispered back, wishing she could offer some words of comfort to her, but knowing that the clock was ticking. She gave her one last look and rushed out the door. "How long ago did Alex leave?"

The guys all exchanged looks.

"How long?" she demanded.

"Fifteen, twenty minutes, tops."

"Damn!" Liz clutched Maria's car keys tightly in her hand and ran for the Jetta, praying she wouldn't be too late.

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Maria watched as Liz pulled away from Alex's house, the wheels on the Jetta squealing. This wasn't right. She couldn't stand here and do nothing. Not while her two best friends' lives were at stake.

She whirled around and raced back into the house. She snatched up the telephone receiver and dialed a number.

"Hello?" Michael answered on the fourth ring.

"Michael! Liz and Alex are in trouble! They're at the pod chamber!"

"The pod chamber? What are they doing there?" he asked in confusion.

She felt a rush of panic grip onto her entire body. "Michael, just go! Help them, please!"

"All right, I'm going." The line went dead.

Maria dropped to the floor, trembling in fear. She closed her eyes and began to pray.


	9. Chapter 9

Alex climbed out of his car at the base of the rocks that hid the pod chamber from view. "Whoa, deja vu," he muttered, realizing he'd parked in almost the same spot he had a couple nights ago when he'd picked up Liz.

He glanced around, feeling a chill despite the warm rays of the sun. He didn't see Isabel anywhere. Maybe he had heard her wrong. Maybe she hadn't said to meet her at the pod chamber.

He thought back to their phone conversation. No, she had definitely said pod chamber. He was sure of it.

"Isabel?" he called loudly, wincing as his voice echoed through the desert canyon.

He heard footsteps a moment later and he turned, expecting to see Isabel. So when he found himself facing Tess instead, he was a little shocked. He instinctively took a step back. He could hear Liz's words in his mind as if she'd been standing right beside him, whispering in his ear. 

"Where's Isabel?" he asked, trying to keep his voice even and calm.

"Isabel didn't call you, Alex. I did," Tess said, stopping when she was about five feet from him.

"No, it was definitely Isabel's voice that--" He stopped when he realized what that had meant. He stared at her, anger growing inside of him. "There some reason you felt you had to pretend to be someone else?"

She shrugged. "I knew you wouldn't meet with me. After all, you wouldn't even come pick me up when my car broke down."

"Yeah, about that. Did your car really break down or did you lie about that, too?"

"Would it really have mattered?"

"For your information, I was going to pick you up. Something came up with Liz and--"

"Oh, of course. Liz. It's always about her, isn't it? What is it about her that makes men jump to do her bidding? You, Kyle, Max. God, I hate that stupid bitch!"

Alex narrowed his eyes. "The only bitch I know is you, Tess," he said coldly. He turned and headed back to his car.

She ran after him and grabbed his arm. "I need your help."

He yanked his arm away. "Sorry. I don't have a degree in alien psychotherapy yet."

"Alex, either you help me voluntarily or we do this the hard way."

"Is that a threat?" He turned to face her again.

Tess's eyes were stormy, though her voice was eerily calm. "Don't make me do something you'll regret later."

A chill ran down his spine. Max's destined or not, the girl was dangerous and more than just a tad creepy. "What do you want from me?"

"I need you to decode this book for me." Tess held up the familiar-looking book, the one that was written in the alien language.

"And how exactly am I supposed to do that? I'm not one of you. I don't know your language!" Alex pointed out, shaking his head.

"You don't have to know it. You know about computers and modern technology. There's a super computer at the University of Las Cruces. I want you to go there and use it to decode the book."

Alex shook his head in disbelief. "Do you have any idea how long that could take? It could take days. Weeks even."

"So?"

"So I have a life, thank you very much. School, friends, my band." This girl was in need of serious mental help.

"We'll tell everyone you're going to Sweden as a foreign exchange student," Tess said with a shrug.

"You mean lie. Why wouldn't you want to tell the others the truth, Tess? What aren't you saying?" he demanded.

Her eyes narrowed. "That's none of your business."

"Then forget it. I'm not helping you." Alex headed to his car once again.

Suddenly, Isabel was standing right in front of him. "Alex, please! Go to Las Cruces and decode the book. My life depends on it!" she pleaded.

Alex stared at her. "Isabel, how did you--?"

"Please, Alex."

A moment later, he felt a hand on his shoulder and Isabel was gone. He whirled around to glare at Tess. "Who the hell do you think you are? You think you can just trick me into doing what you want with your little mind games?"

Tess glared back at him with cold eyes. "Don't underestimate me, Alex. You will go to Las Cruces and decode the book for me. One way or another." She closed her eyes.

There was a sudden, intense pressure in his head and he gripped his head in his hands, wincing as the pressure increased. What was he thinking about?

Las Cruces. Have to go to Las Cruces to decode the book. Isabel's life depended on it. Or was he supposed to go to Sweden?

No, no, no, something's not right. Tess...don't trust her. Stay away from her. Or was Liz the one who was supposed to stay away from her? He couldn't remember. Everything was all jumbled up, like all his thoughts and memories had been tossed into a blender.

He heard a distant roaring sound. What was it? Oh, God, he was going to be swallowed whole.

Somebody please help me, Alex thought desperately. Make it stop!

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Liz clutched the steering wheel so hard her knuckles were white. She was almost there. She could see them up ahead. She briefly considered running Tess over with the Jetta, but immediately dismissed the thought. Alex was standing too close.

She slammed on the brakes, threw the Jetta into park and scrambled out of the car. Alex was clutching his head in pain while Tess had her eyes closed in concentration.

Liz reached into her jeans pocket and pulled out the device she'd stolen from Brody's office. She turned the button. A blue band of light shot out and Tess fell backwards . Alex collapsed on the ground.

"Alex!" She ran to his side, squatted down next to him and pressed her fingers against his neck to search for a pulse.

He moaned, opened his eyes and looked up at her. "Liz?"

"It's me," she said, relief washing over her. "You okay?"

"I...I think so." Alex struggled to sit up. His eyes widened. "Liz, look out!"

Liz spun around in time to see Tess barreling towards her. She reached into her purse and yanked out Brody's handgun. She aimed it straight at Tess, who froze in place. Tess closed her eyes and scrunched up her face.

"Give it up, Tess. You can't use your powers now." Liz held up the device with her free hand.

Tess stared at it. "What the hell is that?"

"It's called a Trithium Amplification Generator. Nifty little thing, isn't it?" Liz threw the device as far as she could behind her.

"What? Are you going to shoot me now?" Tess mocked.

"Did you really think you could get by with it? Did you really believe that you could use us and lie to us and mindwarp us into doing whatever you wanted and that we wouldn't figure it out?"

"It's worked pretty well so far."

They stared at each for a long moment.

"What are you going to do, Liz? Murder me in cold blood?" Tess asked, her voice soft.

Liz's hand trembled and she swallowed hard. Her heart was pounding so fast, she feared it might explode.

Could she really go through with this? Could she take a life when Tess was now completely defenseless? It was one thing to kill in self-defense, but that wasn't the current case.

She's only defenseless because of that device. She was already in the process of mind-warping Alex. Pull the trigger, her mind screamed.

Suddenly she heard the sound of a motorcycle speeding towards them and for a split second she glanced away. Tess hurled herself at Liz, sending both of them sprawling to the ground. Tess dug her fingernails into Liz's arm, trying to wrestle the gun away from her. Liz leaned up and bit her hand. Tess shrieked.

She wasn't sure how it happened, but somehow Tess managed to get control of the gun. "Stand up, you bitch!" she spat hatefully.

Liz slowly got to her feet, her eyes locked on Tess. Alex was standing a couple feet away to her right.

"What the hell is going on here?" Michael demanded as he stalked towards them.

"This crazy bitch attacked me!" Tess accused, pointing the gun at Liz.

"That is not what happened," Alex said angrily.

Michael looked at Liz, then at Tess.

"He's her friend, he's just taking her side, Michael!" She turned her eyes to him.

Liz felt more than saw Alex move. Apparently so did Tess. She whirled around towards him and fired the gun at the same time Liz leapt in front of him.

For a few seconds, she was in a total daze. She reached down and touched her stomach, her hands suddenly slippery with her own blood. Then she felt the burning pain in her abdomen and fell backwards onto the ground.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I keep looking for some sort of change," Liz said as she stood staring at her reflection in the mirror.

"You mean like..." Max raised two fingers over her head like antennae and grinned.

"Yeah. Something like that." She met his eyes in the mirror. "It's nice to see you smile again."

His expression turned serious. "I want to thank you. For saving my life."

"I guess that makes us even," Liz said softly.

"And...I'd like to...start again..."

Her heart skipped a beat and she suddenly felt dizzy.

"Our friendship, that is. I mean...I miss it."

She nodded slightly and grabbed onto the edge of her desk for support. "Yeah. Um...I miss it, too." There was a sudden sharp pain in her stomach and she doubled over, crying out.

"Liz? What's wrong?" Max asked, alarmed. He moved in front of her, his hands around her arms, holding her up.

"I...I don't know," she gasped, tears forming in her eyes from the pain. Her stomach felt like it was on fire, like it had felt the day she'd been shot. She looked down, expecting to see blood, but there was none. Just incredibly intense pain. "Oh, God!"

Max quickly but gently lowered her onto the floor, kneeling beside her. "Okay, just relax and try to take deep breaths, okay? You're going to be fine!" He placed his hands on her face and started to form the connection.


	10. Chapter 10

"...the woods are lovely, dark and deep,  
But I have promises to keep,  
And miles to go before I sleep.  
And miles to go before I sleep."

Max broke into a cold sweat as he forced himself to keep the connection open. With his mind, he searched all of Liz's vital organs, traced all of the blood flowing through her veins, searched for the cause of her pain and now unconscious state. There was nothing.

She was physically fine. And he was close to exhaustion as he continued his attempts to wake her.

After several long moments, he pulled back, broke the connection between them and collapsed next to her on the floor as he tried to catch his breath. He didn't know what to do. Liz was still breathing and her heart rate was normal.

But she was still unconscious.

With great effort, he sat up and grabbed the telephone off Liz's desk and quickly dialed a number.

Isabel answered on the second ring. "Hello?"

"It's me. I need you to come over to Liz's right now. Use the fire escape."

"What? Max, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

"It's not me. It's Liz. Please hurry, Isabel," he said urgently.

"I'll be right there."

Max hung up the phone and stared down at Liz. He gently brushed a strand of hair off her pale face. "You have to be okay, Liz. I need you," he whispered.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Michael stared in horror as Liz crumpled to the ground with a cry. Alex was at her side almost instantly. He lifted his gaze to see Tess backing away slowly, the gun still in her hand.

"You shot her!" Michael said, feeling sick.

"She attacked me!"

He didn't know what was going on or where the gun had come from, but the details were unimportant. He started to head towards Liz, determined to try and heal her.

"Your powers are useless now, Michael," Tess said.

He held his hand out, intending on blasting the gun out of her hand. To his shock, nothing happened. "What the hell have you done?" he demanded.

"I didn't do anything! Liz called me and said she needed to meet with me! When I got here she turned on some device that deactivated my powers and then she pulled on a gun on me! She was going to murder me, Michael!"

He narrowed his eyes. Liz may not have been his favorite person in the world, but he knew with absolute certainty that she wasn't a murderer. However, Tess was the one with the only weapon and that gave her all the power. "I believe you," he said, his voice calm and steady.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"No, no, no, this is not happening," Alex whispered as he pressed his hands against Liz's stomach in a feeble attempt to stop the bleeding. But there was so much of it...

Her head was resting on his lap. Her face was ghostly pale but her eyes were still open.

"Stay with me, Liz. Stay with me," he pleaded.

"I'm sorry," she whispered with great effort. "Wanted...to change...things."

He didn't understand what she meant but that didn't matter at the moment. "Shh, don't try to talk, okay? You're gonna be just fine, Lizzie."

She managed a weak smile, but her eyes were shiny with tears. "You...haven't called me...that...in years, Alex."

Alex's own eyes filled with tears. She was losing a lot of blood, and fast. God, he'd giving anything to have Max's healing ability at that moment. But he didn't have it. His best friend was going to bleed to death and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.

"Don't...don't...cry," Liz said, straining to speak. Her breathing was becoming more and more labored with each passing moment.

He choked back a half laugh, half sob. "You've been shot and you're worried about me not being macho."

She reached up with her right hand and touched his face gently, wincing at the pain the movement caused her. "You're safe...all that...all that matters." Liz closed her eyes and her hand dropped back to the ground.

"No, it's not all that matters! Liz, you can't die on me! We need you. Me, Maria, Max...all of us," Alex said, panic trying to take control of him. "Please, Liz."

She opened her eyes again, but he could tell it took every ounce of strength she had to do so. "It'll...be okay...I promise." Her dark brown eyes were full of love and sympathy as she looked up at him. "Always...keep...my promises," she whispered. Her eyes drifted shut and she went completely limp in his arms.

"Liz! No!" Alex pressed his ear to her heart. There was no heartbeat; her breathing had stopped. "No! Liz! God, no, please no! Liz!"

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Michael swallowed hard and tried to block out the sounds of Alex's anguished cries, but they sent chills down his spine. He continued to walk towards Tess. "Let's get out of here," he suggested calmly.

Tess's eyes narrowed and she pointed the gun at him. "I don't think so. I may be blond, Michael, but I'm certainly not dumb."

Anger flared up within him. "Give me the damn gun!" He took another step towards her and that's when he heard the scream.

"Michael, no!"

Isabel.

He spun around and saw her running out of the pod chamber, stumbling down the rocks. "Stay there!" he shouted.

Tess turned the gun and fired at Isabel, who held her hand up and blocked the bullet with a sparkling, rich purple shield. His mouth dropped open. He couldn't use his powers, and neither could Tess, so why could Isabel?

Tess, too, appeared to be in shock. At least for a split second. Then she turned the gun back to Michael.

A moment later he felt an explosion--not of pain, but of power. He flew backwards, landing on his back several feet away. He was dazed for a moment, then he sat up and saw Tess surrounded by a bright red light. Right before she exploded into dust and ash.

"What the--" Michael stared in shock, then his eyes traveled back to Isabel, who was standing on the rocks, looking a bit shocked herself. Her gaze dropped to where Alex was cradling Liz against his chest, crying. She covered her mouth with one hand.

And then began to fade.

"Isabel!" He leapt to his feet and started running towards the rocks. But by the time he reached the bottom, she had disappeared. He stopped moving and looked around. "Isabel!"

"Michael," he heard Alex choke out.

He turned and saw that Liz, too, had disappeared. "What the hell is going on?" he said aloud.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Liz sat up abruptly, gasping for breath. Max and Isabel were leaning over her, both staring at her in concern.

"Liz, what happened? Are you okay?" Max asked, touching her face.

She looked from Max to Isabel, and then back again. "I...I don't know what happened," she answered shakily. "I was talking to you and then...then I felt this pain, like the day I got shot, the day that you saved me, Max. And then I was...afraid, but...I could hear you talking to me...you and and Alex."

Max and Isabel exchanged a look. "Alex hasn't been here, Liz," Isabel said gently.

"No, he was, I heard him...he...I heard him. I heard his voice," she insisted, shaking her head. She climbed to her feet, swaying a bit unsteadily.

Max stood up and slid his arm around her waist. "Liz..."

"We have to go over to his house. I have to make sure...I have to see him," she said, overwhelmed by fear.

The Evans' siblings exchanged another look. "Okay, Liz, I'll drive," Max volunteered.


	11. Chapter 11

Maria paced the Whitman's living room floor, on the verge between total panic and blacking out. Why the hell weren't they back yet? It had been almost two hours since Liz...well, future-Liz had left to stop Tess from mindwarping Alex and she'd called Michael. And she hadn't heard from them yet. Not one word.

What if Tess had succeeded? What if she'd mindwarped Alex or killed him, and killed Liz and Michael, as well? Or what if...

A knock on the door startled her out of her thoughts. Without even remembering she was at Alex's house and not her own, she yanked the door opened and found herself face to face with Liz, Max and Isabel. She focused her gaze solely on Liz. It only took her a few seconds to know she wasn't future-Liz. Which meant that even if something had happened to future-Liz, this Liz, her best friend Liz, was safe and sound and standing right in front of her. A wave of relief washed over her and Maria hugged her tightly.

"Maria, what's wrong?" There was definite alarm in Liz's voice. "What are you doing here? Where's Alex?"

Maria looked at Max and Isabel over Liz's shoulder, unsure of what to say. Should she lie and say that he'd just gone out? Should she tell them the truth and send Max and Isabel after Tess? She didn't know what to do.

"Maria, I need to see Alex," Liz said, pulling away from her hug.

"He...uh...he's...not here," she stammered.

"Where is he?"

She hesitated. She couldn't take the chance that Future-Liz was still out there and have the two Liz's running into one another. It would kill them both. But what if Future-Liz couldn't handle Tess? What if Alex and Michael were in trouble?

"Maria," Max said, studying her. "Are you okay? Is something wrong?"

Maria took a deep breath to calm herself. "I'm fine. Alex went out on an errand. I needed to talk to him so he said I could stay here and wait for him."

Liz looked somewhat relieved, though she could still sense her friend was tense. "We'll wait with you."

She forced a smile. "Great." Maria walked over to the window and stared outside at the rapidly setting sun. Please be okay, she prayed.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Michael glanced sideways at Alex, who was sitting in the passenger seat of Maria's Jetta. He was completely still, his hands and shirt covered in Liz's blood, and Michael suspected he was in shock.

He wasn't feeling so great himself.

What the hell had happened? He had tried to ask Alex questions, but the guy was pretty much in a catatonic state.

Michael felt a wave of guilt. Of course he was catatonic and in shock. Alex had just watched one of his best friends die. And then vanish into thin air.

He tried to focus on the road. Tess was dead. That was one thing he knew for certain. Isabel had blown her into bits of ash and dust and then Isabel herself had vanished. What does that mean? he wondered. Was Isabel dead? Michael suddenly felt more than a little bit nauseus.

He stopped the car in front of Alex's house, hoping like hell that the Whitmans weren't at home. If they were, he'd have to think of an explanation for their son being covered in blood and unable to speak. He looked at Alex. "Alex, you're home."

Alex silently opened the car door and climbed out. Michael did the same. Then he froze. What was he going to tell Maria? And Max?

Before he had time to fully contemplate those horrible thoughts, Maria opened the front door of Alex's house and ran to him. She flung her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "Thank God you're okay."

Michael hugged her back just as tightly. He glanced up at the porch where Max was standing, looking confused. His heart sank.

"Alex!" Maria left his arms and started towards her other best friend, but stopped and stared at the layer of blood that was soaked into his shirt and caked on his hands. She gasped. "What happened?"

"She's...gone," Alex whispered.

"Who's gone?" Max asked, walking up to them.

"Max, something happened at the pod chamber," Michael said quietly. "I can't explain it, but..." Just then he looked up and caught sight of Isabel stepping through the front door and onto the porch. "Thank God." He was at her side in five long strides. He wrapped his arms around her. "Are you okay?"

Isabel pushed him away, annoyed. "Yes, Michael, I'm fine. What's your problem?"

"How did you get here? You were just there in the desert," he said in confusion.

She looked at him like he was crazy. "Michael, I've been with Max and Liz for the past hour and a half. I haven't been to the desert in weeks. What the hell are you talking about?"

"No, Isabel, I just saw you..." He stopped mid-sentence and stared at her. "What do you mean you've been with Max and Liz for the past hour and a half? You couldn't have been."

"Okay, Michael. I think you've had a little too much sun today." Isabel patted his arm gently.

"Isabel, Liz is dead," he said flatly.

Isabel rolled her eyes and stepped into the house. After a second, she reached through the doorway, grabbed his arm, and pulled him inside. "No, she's not." She waved her hand at Liz, who was sitting on the sofa.

Michael stared at her. "What the fuck is going on?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Max agreed as he stepped inside the house, followed by Maria, who was holding onto Alex's arm.

Liz stared at Alex, her eyes growing wide. "Oh, my God! Alex, are you hurt?" She was on her feet and at his side instantly.

Alex simply stared at her for about thirty seconds. Then his eyes rolled back and he collapsed on the floor.


	12. Chapter 12

Alex could hear voices all around him.

"I think he's waking up."

Is that Maria? he wondered.

He groaned and opened his eyes slowly.

"Alex?" Isabel was on one side of him, her hands resting on his arm.

"What happened?" he mumbled.

"You passed out," she said gently.

He sat up slowly and found himself staring into a pair of familiar warm brown eyes. He was slammed by the memory of holding her in his arms as she slowly bled to death. "Liz?"

She couldn't be real. Everything logical and having to do with common sense told him that. He was either still asleep and dreaming or he was awake and she was a hallucination.

And yet, she spoke. "Alex, are you okay?" she asked in concern.

He blinked rapidly, trying to figure out how it was possible that she was right there in front of him when he had seen her die. "I..." He looked up at Max and Michael, who were standing behind Liz, and then he looked down at his hands that were still covered in her blood.

"Alex, where did all that blood come from?" Isabel asked quietly.

His gaze traveled to Liz again, but he found himself unable to speak.

"I'll answer that," Michael spoke up. "It's Liz's."

Everyone turned to look at him.

"Michael, that's impossible. I've been with Liz for the past two and a half hours," Max said. "She's not hurt."

Liz looked at Alex, appearing to be just as confused as he felt.

"No, you...you were shot. You...died in my arms," he managed to say.

"Alex, I'm fine. Until a few minutes ago, I hadn't seen you in days."

They stared at each other.

Max glanced from Alex to Michael. "I think you'd better tell us the whole story."

"First let's get rid of this," Isabel said, motioning to the dried blood all over him. She waved her hand and it disappeared.

"Thanks," he said quietly, not taking his eyes off Liz.

"I got a call from Maria. She said that Liz and Alex were at the pod chamber and that their lives were in danger. So I drove out there. When I got there, Tess was holding a gun on them."

"Tess? What?" Max stared at him.

"She told me that Liz had attacked her. When Alex made a move to get the gun away from her, she turned and fired at him, but--"

"Liz jumped in front of me," Alex finished, watching the shock register on Liz's face.

"Oh, my God," Maria whispered.

"She would have shot me, too, but then Isabel showed up and used her powers and Tess..." Michael hesitated for a moment. "She's dead, Max."

There was a long moment of silence.

"It's not possible," Isabel said, shaking her head vehemently. "I've been with Max and Liz. I wasn't at the pod chamber. I didn't kill Tess!"

"Well, then there's someone out there who looks just like you that did. But that's not the weirdest part." He took a deep breath. "You or...the girl who looks just like you and the girl who looks just like Liz...they both vanished."

The color drained from Liz's face. "Vanished?"

"Into thin air."

"This doesn't make any sense," Max said, rubbing his forehead as though he was getting a migraine.

"Actually, it does."

Alex looked up at Maria in surprise, and everyone else turned to stare at her. She simply lifted her gaze to meet Liz's.

"I have a pretty good idea of what's going on here. I'll be right back." Without another word, she turned around and walked down the hallway.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Liz hugged her arms across her stomach, her heart beating wildly. She had a feeling she knew what was going on, too. It sounded like what had happened when Future-Max had visited her and asked her to alter the present to change the future. He had simply disappeared when she'd succeeded. So a future version of herself and one of Isabel had shown up. She just didn't know why.

She cast a glance over at Max, Michael and Isabel, who were huddled together and talking softly amongst themselves.

Liz felt a hand on her arm and she turned around to face Alex, who was staring at her. "Hey."

He kept his hand on her arm. "I just...wanted to make sure you were real," he said quietly.

Something about the tone of his voice sent a flood of mixed emotions running through her. When was the last time she'd actually talked to Alex, really talked to him? They used to be so close, such good friends. Best friends. Alex, Maria and her. The Three Musketeers. Now they were worlds apart.

"I'm real," she answered, trying to reign in her emotions.

Alex suddenly pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly.

Liz was surprised for a moment, caught off-guard. She'd been pushing him away--pushing all of them away really for quite awhile now. She had thought it would be easier for everyone if she just quietly faded into the background. That somehow if she just left them all alone she could deal with everything by herself.

But as Alex held her, she suddenly realized just how much she'd missed him, missed all of them. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him back just as tightly, burying her face in his flannel shirt.

Maria returned to the room carrying a small box in her hands. She pulled the lid of the box and removed a video tape from the box.

Alex kept one arm around her and pulled her down to sit next to him on the sofa as Maria popped the tape into the VCR.

"This--uh--this will hopefully explain things," Maria said, sounding a bit apprehensive. She sat down on Liz's other side and gave her a brief smile.

Liz wasn't totally surprised when she saw herself on screen a moment later, staring directly into the camera, peering out at everyone through the tv screen.

Max, Michael and Isabel all turned to look at her, but she ignored them for the moment.

"What I'm about to say is probably going to sound crazy to all of you, but it's the truth."

Liz stared at herself on screen, struck by how haunted she appeared.

"I'm Liz Parker eight months from now."

She glanced at Maria, who didn't seem at all surprised.

"The granolith is an extremely powerful piece of technology. From what I know right now, it has two main purposes. There may be more. But right now I know that it's a craft that can take you back to where you come from, and it an be used to travel back in time."

Liz felt Alex's arm tighten around her slightly and she looked at the others for their reactions. Their eyes were all wide and fixated on the screen.

"When I decided to use it to come back, the only person I told was Isabel."

She met Isabel's gaze and they exchanged surprised looks. It wasn't like they hated each other or anything, they just weren't close.

"A little over a month ago in my time, something happened. Something awful." Her future-self hesitated, her eyes growing dark.

Liz felt a sudden pang of dread take hold of her.

"Tess murdered Alex and then set it up to make his death look like a suicide."

The air left her lungs. Maria reached over and squeezed her hand while Liz looked at Alex. He had gone pale.

"She mindwarped him for two months into going to the University of Las Cruces to decode that book for her. She arranged it so that all of us thought he had gone to Sweden as a foreign exchange student. Then she mindwarped him again into thinking that he had gone to Sweden. You see, the book contains the information on how to use the granolith to get home. She needed that information to complete a deal that Nasedo had made with Kivar 40 years ago. Tess was to get pregnant with Max's son and return home with the three of you and turn you over to Kivar for execution. Tess has been working with your enemies the whole time she's been in Roswell.

"Max, in my time, Tess did get pregnant. And Alex did decode the book for her. But something happened. Somehow Alex, you broke free of her mindwarp and you confronted her. She knew that you would go to Max and tell him what she had done and she used her powers to kill you. Kyle saw the whole thing happen. But she mindwarped him into forgetting it. She made him think that he was carrying a duffel bag out to your car, but it was really you. She made it look like you had intentionally driven into oncoming traffic. But as you guys, Max, Michael and Isabel, were getting ready to use the granolith to go home, Kyle remembered what Tess had done. Kyle, Maria and I drove to the pod chamber to tell you the truth about what happened.

"We got there just as Michael had decided not to return. He let us in the pod chamber and we told you guys what Tess had done. Max, you wouldn't hurt Tess because she was carrying your child. But you allowed her to use the granolith to return home to your planet."

"I came back here to stop her from killing Alex. I've told Maria who I am and what I'm doing here. I knew I couldn't do this alone, and I didn't want Alex anywhere near Tess and I knew he would insist on helping me to stop her."

Liz felt Alex's arm tighten around her and she reached up to wipe away tears that had streaked down her face. Across the room, Isabel was doing the same.

"There's a device in Brody's office that's shaped like a pentagon. The device is alien in origin and when it's turned on you guys can't use your powers."

"That's why Tess used a gun instead of just blowing people up," Michael said, shaking his head.

"But there's something else you have to hear." Future-Liz paused for a moment. "For the past several months we've been divided. All of us. And the more divided we became, the worse things got. Secrets were kept and lies were told. I'm a big cause of that division. But at the time, I thought I was doing the right thing."

Liz's eyes widened and she felt panic rise up within her. She knew...she just *knew* what her future-self was about to say.

"Max, I never slept with Kyle."

Max's gaze swung over to her immediately and she met his eyes for a second, then looked away, her heart hammering in her chest.

"You see, I knew the granolith could be used as a time machine because your future self visited me. You told me that because we were together, Tess had left town. And then years later your enemies attacked. You said that without Tess, you guys were weaker. You needed me to get your present self to fall out of love with me so that she wouldn't leave. Because when your enemies attacked, Max, the world was coming to an end. You told me that Isabel had already been killed, and that Michael had died just hours before you came to visit me."

Liz felt the tamped-down emotions inside of her burst and she started to cry in earnest. God, what did all this mean? Would the world end because her future self had screwed up by telling Max the truth?

Alex pulled her into his arms and she cried on his shoulder.

"I don't know what this means for the future. I don't understand it myself. But there is one thing that I know for sure. This division that's between us...that's among all of us...it has to be fixed. If you don't stick together, everything will fall apart. Because in my time it did. You all have to stop lying to each other and keeping secrets and with-holding the truth. Work together when things get bad. Stop bickering amongst yourselves, stop pushing each other away. You need one another. All of you. I didn't realize it until it was too late. You're all you've got. Please. Don't make the same mistakes I did...that we all did."

Liz looked up into her own pleading face on screen. Then her image flickered out and the tape turned to snow.

There was dead silence in the room.

She was sure she was going to go insane if someone didn't say something soon.

Max stared at her intently and took a step forward. "I'm sorry...that I didn't have more faith in you," he whispered.

She looked up at him, squeezed Maria's hand briefly and stood up. "It's not your fault, Max."

"We all lost faith in one another," Isabel said softly, wiping away the remainder of her own tears. "I didn't have enough faith in Max to tell him about things I learned about my past life. I betrayed my family. I was the one who got everyone killed...when I was Volandra."

"But it was your past life, Isabel. You're not the same person now," Alex reminded her gently.

Michael stood up and looked around the room. "We've all done things in the past few months that we're not proud of. Let's do what Liz...Future Liz said. Let's start being honest with each other."

"About everything," Maria agreed.

Liz looked at her and then gave her a hug. "I'm sorry I've been pushing you away," she whispered.

"Forgiven," Maria replied instantly. A moment later, Alex's arms wrapped around them both.

"Alex," Liz started.

"Don't apologize. You saved my life, remember?"

"It wasn't me...I mean it was, but..."

"Liz. It doesn't matter," Alex said quietly. "A little while ago I watched you...your future self die. I thought I'd lost my best friend forever. The only thing I care about is that you're alive, and I'm alive and everyone I care about is alive."

Liz pulled away from the group hug and looked at Max. "You know, there's something I don't understand. Earlier, it felt like I had been shot, but there was no wound. And when I blacked out, Alex, I heard you talking to me. You were telling me to hold on, to not go into the woods. But that...doesn't make any sense, does it?"

Alex's eyes widened. "Oh, my God. The poem." He left the room and returned a moment later, carrying a book of Robert Frost poems. He opened it to a page and held it out for her to read. "Your future self mentioned this poem when she...you were talking to me a couple days ago."

Liz took the book from him and looked at the poem. She read the last four lines aloud.

"...the woods are lovely, dark and deep,  
But I have promises to keep,  
And miles to go before I sleep.  
And miles to go before I sleep."

Then she looked up at Alex.

"When your future self was dying you said...that you always keep your promises." He shrugged. "I'm not sure what you...she meant."

"I guess some things will always be a mystery," Michael spoke up.

Liz looked over the words again. "But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep," she whispered. She knew that it meant something, held some meaning of importance and the words almost felt like they could trigger some distant memory--but the memory was of a time beyond the realm of what she was actually capable of remembering. A memory that was, perhaps, her own, but in a different future, one that she was grateful she would never experience.

Maybe Michael was right. Some things would always remain a mystery.

And perhaps they were all better off not knowing anyway.

After all, she had learned from experience that you could not look into the future and see what it held and remain untouched.

She looked around the room at her friends. They had a lot of stuff to work through before things could return to the way they used to be. But right now the only thing that mattered was that at that moment, they were all together. They could deal with the future when it arrived.


End file.
